iiSAFE™
toolkit Launched (US and Europe)
Newswire
has been away for a while but that is because we have been concentrating
on developing a new and exciting range of safety products.
Expert Ease International rebranded
and relaunched the web-safety.com packages under
the iiSAFE™ banner
at the NSC Expo in New Orleans, September 2004 and during European Week
for Safety and Health for the European market. In doing so we have
pulled all of our products into a single user-friendly package. The
iiSAFE™ toolkit now has;
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A
comprehensive, customisable OSH management system,
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Safety
procedures (MS Access database driven
and MS Word versions),
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Chemical
safety and hazard analysis databases (see below),
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Integrated
checking and assessment packages for use on PDAs and PC,
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Assessment
and auditing packages,
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On-line
training programs,
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Comprehensive
training handbooks,
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Dedicated
customers website with facilities for identifying and purchasing
appropriate, quality safety materials and equipment.
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On-line
consultancy assistance,
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Links
to statutory safety bodies, and
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85
pages of links to over five hundred additional
sources of supporting information.
This comprehensive
on-line tool, iiSAFE™ is a dynamic resource that is active at all stages
of the production from development, through operation to the finished
outcome. iiSAFE™
Operational Analysis tools provides employers with a complete
management program that will identify all the barriers to successful
production outcomes and ensure that due consideration is given to all
aspects of the process prior to commencement.
The
iiSAFE™ toolkit can be purchased as a complete package for stand
alone computer user or networked version. Alternatively each of the
individual packages can be purchased separately.
Click
to view a
list of what is currently in the complete toolkit.
Up
and coming conferences.
European
Construction Safety Summit
22 November 2004 – Bilbao, Spain
1,200
lives are lost in Europe every year in construction, twice the average of
other sectors. Construction accidents cost the EU over 75 billion Euros
per year (€200 for every member of the EU population). This is why in
2004, the European Week for Safety and Health at Work, which will take
place 18-22 October, is focusing on construction. Run by the European
Agency for Safety and Health at Work in close co-operation with its focal
point network in 31 countries as well as the European social partner
organisations FIEC (European Construction Industry Federation) and EFBWW
(European Federation of Building and Woodworkers), the campaign has been
designed to help all stakeholders in the industry to build a safer,
healthier and more productive working environment.
The
closing event of the European Week 2004 will take place on 22 November
2004 at Euskalduna Conference Centre in Bilbao, Spain. This one-day summit
jointly organized by the Dutch Presidency of the European Union and the
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work will offer a unique
opportunity for health and safety practitioners, industry representatives,
politicians and policy makers, social partners and academics to meet,
debate and to reach agreement on how Europe can work to raise the levels
of safety and health in its construction industry.
The
summit will also be the occasion to call upon all relevant parties to take
appropriate action in order to achieve the significant, and permanent,
improvements that are required to implement the EU strategy on
occupational safety and health 2002 – 2006.
In
addition, the Agency will announce the winners in this year’s good
practice awards competition recognizing outstanding initiatives in
promoting higher standards of safety and health in Europe’s construction
sector.
For more
information on the program visit the dedicated
website.
Buildsafe-NI
Initiative
 The deadline for meeting the terms of the Buildsafe NI Initiative is
December 2004.
Contractors
tendering for public sector contracts are required to “...possess
evidence of appropriate health and safety training” that
is linked to a company specific risk assessment and designed to meet the
specific needs of the work to be undertaken.
Buildsafe
also requires that contractors working for government clients get their
safety systems independently audited.
Any of the internationally or nationally recognised safety
management standards is acceptable.
Buildsafe
is not about populating the industry with cards and passports. It is about
ensuring that all those who will work on construction sites are competent
to do so.
Register
with Expert Ease International and we will;
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Advise
on your competence levels
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Conduct
competence assessments
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Provide
appropriate training, and
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Conduct
your 3rd Party Safety Audit.
expertease@confinedspaces.com
Tel:
028 44613383
Report:
THE ROLE OF DESIGN ISSUES IN WORK-RELATED INJURIES IN AUSTRALIA
1997–2002
On 24 May
2002, the Workplace Relations Ministers’ Council endorsed the release of
the NOHSC National OHS Strategy 2002-2012. The Strategy was
developed by the members of NOHSC and reflects their agreement to share
responsibility for continuously improving Australia’s performance in
work related health and safety.
There are
five initial national priority areas for action to achieve short-term and
long-term improvements.
The
priorities are:
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reduce
high incidence/severity risks;
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improve
the capacity of business operators and workers to manage OHS
effectively;
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prevent
occupational disease more effectively;
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eliminate
hazards at the design stage; and
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strengthen
the capacity of government to influence OHS outcomes.
This
report presents the results of a project that investigated the role of
design issues in work-related injury. In recent years there has been
increasing interest in and focus on the contribution of design to
occupational health and safety. This is reflected in design (Eliminate
hazards at the design stage) being one of the five priorities under the National
OHS Strategy 2002-2012.
In August
2003, the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (NOHSC)
commissioned research into the incidence of design-related workplace
fatalities and injuries in Australia for the period 1997–2002.
Key
objectives for this preliminary phase of the project were to provide:
• an
understanding of the contribution of design to workplace injuries and
fatalities and the nature and extent of these in the period 1997–2002;
and
• a
comparative analysis of fatalities to the 1989–1992 study (identifying
emerging issues, changes to baseline etc).
The
concept of design-relatedness is not well conceptualised or practically
applied in the literature and therefore no existing definitions or
approaches could be adopted. In addition, limited data were a constraint.
The focus of the research was on workplace incidents, with work-related
incidents involving motor vehicle, aircraft or train crashes, and medical
misadventure, being excluded. Serious and fatal injuries were examined in
preference to less serious injuries.
The
main finding from the study is that design continues to be a significant
contributor to work-related serious injury in Australia. This is the case
with a wide variety of machinery, plant and equipment, although the extent
of involvement varies between them. Limitations of the data sources mean
that the design contribution identified in this analysis is likely to be
underestimated.
Most
of the main design problems are old issues, with guarding the most
prominent example. Other identified problems were:
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Poorly situated controls;
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Inadequate interlock safety
systems;
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Absent or inadequate rollover
protective structures and/or associated seat belts;
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Inadequate fall protection; and
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Failed hydraulic lifting
systems.
These
issues appear to provide a lot of scope and opportunity for prevention
activities.
Limitations
in the available data sources also meant that the potential contribution
of the design of systems, processes and buildings to work-related injury
was beyond the scope of the current analysis. This is another reason why
the estimates presented in this report are likely to be underestimates of
the true situation.
There
appears to have been a substantial decrease in the number of fatal
incidents involving machinery
and fixed plant in
the decade between 1992 and 2002, probably primarily since 2000, but data
issues may explain part of this.
When
interpreting the results of this study, the nature and source of the raw
data must be kept in mind. Both the NCIS and workers’ compensation data
were not collected primarily for prevention purposes in general, nor to
consider design issues in particular. The NCIS information was provided by
police, OHS officers and/or Coroners, and the workers’ compensation text
descriptions were provided by the injured worker or the relevant employer,
not by an impartial investigating officer. The available information may
be expected to under or over emphasise factors related to design in some
incidents, although underestimation seems more likely. Adding this to the
problem that ‘design-relatedness’ is inherently an imprecise concept,
the results of the analysis can only be considered indicative. They
clearly indicate that design is an important contributing factor in
work-related serious injury, and the study provides a reasonable estimate
of the extent of involvement, but the precise contribution is not known.
Read
the report.
Revising
the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (UK)
The 2002
construction Discussion Document (DD) Revitalising
Health and Safety in Construction recognised that all wasn’t well
with the industry’s health and safety performance overall and, among
many other issues, asked for views on the role of designers. The responses
included many suggestions about how designers could make more of an impact
on health and safety.
These and
other comments encouraged HSC to agree that the CDM regulations need to be
revised. The background and key objectives for the review are set out in
the Health
and Safety Commission paper.
One of
the key objectives for the review is to simplify and clarify the
regulations. This includes the designer duties under CDM. We also need to
think about designers relationships with other key players including
clients, and contractors. Improved understanding and communications
(better, not more) are as important as changes to the law, but much harder
to achieve.
There
will be opportunities to comment on the wording of the Regulations, ACoP
and guidance as they develop in the coming months.
Construction
accident rates continue to fall
but... (Europe)
Accident
rates in Europe’s construction industry have declined steadily and
steeply since 1994 but remain unacceptably high, according to new
statistics published in the latest edition of the magazine of the European
Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
Based on
preliminary data from the 2001 European Statistics on Accidents at Work
collected by Eurostat, fatal accidents in the sector fell by 29% between
1994 and 2001, while the rate of non-fatal accidents dropped by 20%. The
steepest decline occurred between 2000 and 2001, the latest year for which
data is available: over this period non-fatal accidents per 100,000
employees fell from 7,518 to 7,213 and fatal accidents from 11.4 to 10.4
per 100,000 in the pre-enlargement EU of 15 Member States.
Nevertheless,
fatal and non-fatal accident rates in construction remain around twice as
high as the EU sectoral average. The risks are even greater in small- to
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): for example there are 9,500 non-fatal
accidents per 100,000 employees each year in construction firms employing
less than 10 people compared to 5,000 in firms with over 250 employees.
The
differences between SMEs and larger construction businesses could reflect
differences in the resources available to maintain and develop work
safety, although it is also possible that the smallest companies operate
in sub-sectors where the overall risk of accidents is higher, according to
Eurostat, the European Commission’s Statistical Office.
The
latest issue of the Agency magazine, which focuses on the construction
industry in the run-up to the Agency’s 2004 ‘Building in Safety’
European week campaign (October 18-22 2004), includes a number of articles
that explore ways to improve occupational safety and health (OSH)
standards in the industry. Subjects covered include:
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Coordinated
action in the Europe construction Industry: A review of the recent
inspection campaign run by the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee
(SLIC).
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Social
dialogue in construction: How two of Europe’s biggest social
partners in construction, the European Construction Industry
Federation (FIEC) and the European Federation of Building and Wood
Workers (EFBWW), are teaming up to lift standards.
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Achieving
excellence in construction procurement: How buying ‘safely’ not
only reduces the risks of accidents and ill-health but also saves
money.
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Promotion
of action to improve safety and health with small construction
companies: A round up of various examples of good practice for SMEs.
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Safe
maintenance of work equipment in construction: A description of a new
and highly successful equipment manual being rolled out in the
Netherlands.
Copies of
the magazine
in English can be downloaded from the Agency’s website. It will also
shortly be published in German, French and Spanish .
Asbestos
in Construction - Fact Sheet (Europe)
All
construction, maintenance, and cleaning workers are potentially at risk
from exposure to asbestos.
If
you work in the building, maintenance or cleaning trades then you can be
at risk of exposure to asbestos. This fact sheet explains what asbestos
is, its health effects, who is at risk, and where it may be found. It does
not cover asbestos removal operations. The fact sheet gives some basic
good practice, but cannot provide detailed guidance. It is strongly
recommended that you contact your relevant enforcing authority or other
bodies if you suspect that you may be exposed to asbestos at work.
Download
the Fact Sheet
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